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Secularism and Pluralism: Divergent Social Imaginaries
My faith as a Christian cannot be privatized. My relationship with God is personal, but it isn’t private. Continue reading
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For Alan and Jolly
“Welcome, Foon ying, Swagaat! I especially welcome those people who have come from far away to be here today, from abroad and from places outside Edmonton. My name is Ray Klassen, and I am so honoured that Alan and Jolly have asked me to help them celebrate their wedding today. As I have come to… Continue reading
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A Deteriorating Internet
Advertising becomes more aggressive. User data is harvested more thoroughly. Algorithms are introduced not to foster understanding, but to prolong engagement. What was once delightful becomes tedious. Continue reading
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The Gift of Knowledge: Absorbed by Truth
Why do I say ex-philosopher? Because, since Descartes and perhaps before, modern Western thought has turned knowledge into a problem to be solved. Rationalism, empiricism, idealism, phenomenology, utilitarianism: all these systems tend to make knowledge into a mechanism of control, a means of prediction, a form of power. Descartes and Locke both used the word… Continue reading
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The Aura of Thought: McLuhan and Benjamin on AI
“Without presence, there is no memory. Without struggle, no ethics. Can a civilization survive on imitation alone?” Continue reading
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What A.I. Really Threatens: Yuval Harari and the Red Flag of Intimacy
It isn’t our sovereignty that AI threatens (since we never have been sovereign); it is our authenticity. Continue reading
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Alberta Can’t Follow Through
“You call for freedom, yet chain yourself fast, A restless spirit, but bound to your past.” Continue reading
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The Problem with Mass Pop Music isn’t that it’s “Pop”: Mass Culture and Mass Society
Republicans don’t annoy me; Democrats don’t either. Conservatives don’t annoy me, neither do Liberals or New Democrats. But…. technocrats annoy me. The Problem with Mass Pop Music isn’t that it’s “Pop”: Mass Culture and Mass Society Continue reading
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Rethinking Inclusion Part 3: Case Studies in a Revolution in Education
When we dug into it, we found that human agency, while widely assumed as a human right, is, in fact hotly contested and often inarticulate. It turns out this so-called human right to agency is something that isn’t assumed; it must be achieved. These institutional barriers have become systemic, and as such, we may begin… Continue reading
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Re-thinking Inclusion Part 2: Neurodiversity and Expectations of Agency
This is a snippet of an upcoming publication – in a slightly modified form. It is a section of a chapter entitled, “A Social Model of Learning” Continue reading
Raymond Klassen - Ideals and Identities 